House calls by community health workers and public health nurses to improve adherence to isoniazid monotherapy for latent tuberculosis infection: a retrospective study

Table 1 Characteristics of patients with latent tuberculosis infection

Characteristic		Home follow-up^a(N=986)		Clinic follow-up^b(N=2932)		p-value^c
Characteristic		N	(%)	N	(%)	p-value^c
Female		549	(55.7)	1467	(50.0)	0.002
Median age		22		24		<0.001
(1^st and 3^rd quartile)		(10–31)		(13–35)
Age categories:						<0.001
	< 6 years old	141	(14.3)	140	(4.8)
	6 to < 18	277	(28.1)	967	(33.0)
	18 to < 35	399	(40.5)	1085	(37.0)
	35 and older	169	(17.1)	740	(25.2)
Place of birth:						0.008
	Latin America	592	(60.0)	1573	(53.7)
	Asia	243	(24.7)	837	(28.6)
	USA	75	(7.6)	268	(9.1)
	Africa	22	(2.2)	48	(1.6)
	Europe	20	(2.0)	82	(2.8)
	Unknown	34	(3.5)	124	(4.2)
Needed translation service^d		60	(6.1)	176	(6.0)	0.93
Patient referral reason:
	TST converters and TB case contacts^e	220	(22.3)	229	(7.8)	<0.001
	Correction and rehabilitation^f	9	(0.9)	226	(7.7)
	Postpartum women^g	59	(6.0)	169	(5.8)
	TST+^h from screening	698	(70.8)	2308	(78.7)
Prescribed 9Hⁱ regimen		555	(56.3)	1595	(54.4)	0.30

^aPatients assigned home-based follow-up with a community health worker and public health nurse.
^bPatients with clinic-based follow-up.
^cSignificance testing with chi-square test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
^dPatients who spoke languages other than Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Cantonese, or Mandarin, and required use of a phone translation service or a family member for communication.
^eRecent tuberculin skin test converters and household contacts to active tuberculosis cases.
^fPatients from correctional and drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities.
^gWomen treated more than 2 months after delivery of child.
^hTST+: Tuberculin skin test positive from routine screening.
ⁱ Nine months of isoniazid as opposed to six months of isoniazid.

ISSN: 1471-2458